The Fa 61 made its maiden flight in 1936 and over the next three years set s a series of records for height, speed and distance. It was an entirely experimental machine and only two prototypes were ever built.

After the success of the Fa 61 Focke began work on a two-seat sports version of the aircraft, with the designation Fa 224. This would have used a 270hp Argus As 10C engine, a great improvement over the 160hp engine of the Fw 61. Performance would presumably have been greatly boosted, but the Fa 224 never progressed beyond the design stage and work was abandoned at the outbreak of the Second World War.